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Where to Wear It
Best All-Round
Polar H10
Runner Up
Garmin Forerunner 265
For Indoor Cyclists
Wahoo Tickr X
Those days of getting a heart rate reading only when you visit your physician are truly a thing of the past. You don’t even have to spend big money or leave your home to get a sense of your heart rate during exercise or at rest.
The rise of optical and EKG (electrocardiogram) sensors that can now reliably deliver that information from your wrist, chest, or arm means you can better understand how hard you hit it in that boot camp class and get a window into the most stressful periods of your day.
For more sports and fitness guides, check out the Best Fitbits, Best Fitness Trackers and Watches, Best Running Gear, and the Best Wireless Earbuds for Working Out.
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Photograph: olegbreslavtsev/Getty Images
Where to Wear It
Why you want a heart rate monitor? What kind of information do you need to see, and when and how will you wear the device? Asking these questions will help you get a heart rate monitor that not only delivers wearability, accuracy, and value, but is right for your lifestyle and health needs.
Where on your body you want to wear a heart rate monitor is a pretty important factor. Wearing one on the wrist, as part of a smartwatch, may be the most convenient way to track heart rate, though a strap—typically on the chest and more recently the upper arm or bicep—can generate more accurate data for activities like exercise. If you want to track heart rate during sleep, make sure you opt for a form factor that isn’t going to feel bulky or become a nuisance for your sleeping companion. If you’re hoping to use it with other fitness equipment or a watch, look for the type of Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity support to do that with single or multiple devices.
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Photograph: Polar Electro
Best All-Round
Polar H10
A chest strap remains the most accurate way to track your heart rate for exercise, putting an EKG sensor closest to your heart. The Polar H10 is the standout here. That’s because Polar has replaced the typical loop-and-hook connector found on most monitors with a buckle-style connector to reduce irritation. The company also uses small silicone dots to make sure the strap stays put during high-intensity activities so the HR data is still good.
Comfort aside, it’s the most accurate of the monitors I’ve tested for exercise. There were no glaring drop-outs or underreporting or overreporting during my test runs, indoor cycles, strength training, or interval sessions. Having some built-in memory to store data for a session is useful, and the ANT+ connectivity means you can effortlessly link equipment like turbo trainers or swap out the HR stats on your watch for more accurate ones. You can take it for a swim too, and you won’t have to replace the battery for a year, even if you’re wearing it on a regular basis.
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Photograph: Garmin
Runner Up
Garmin Forerunner 265
If a chest strap is out of the question because you need to see your metrics in real time and glance at them during the day, the Forerunner 265 is a multisport watch that can deliver reliable heart rate metrics during workouts, and even when you head to bed.
The headline change from the previous 255 is the addition of a vibrant AMOLED touchscreen display inside a 42-mm or 46-mm case, which holds Garmin’s Elevate optical heart rate sensor. That delivers continuous heart rate data by the second and does so reliably. During runs and indoor workouts, the sensor holds up well at high intensity, with the support to pair to external heart rate monitors if want to go pro. That optical sensor also brings other useful measurements, like heart rate variability (HRV), which fuels useful features such as Training Readiness. This uses HRV, along with other metrics, to provide a clear sense of whether you should go hard or give your body a rest day.
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Photograph: Wahoo Fitness
For Indoor Cyclists
Wahoo Tickr X
Few monitors feel like they belong on the bodies of cyclists—but the Wahoo Tickr X is one of them. Especially if you spend more than your fair share of that bike time in the confines of your home.
The latest Tickr X, with its 50 hours of onboard storage, uses an EKG sensor. And it now integrates that sensor into a strap that’s slimmer than the one used in the last iteration. Wahoo uses LED light indicators that you can glance at during workouts to see clearly that it’s reading your heart rate and has successfully connected to another piece of smart indoor bike equipment over ANT+ or Bluetooth. That connectivity support means you can pair multiple devices at the same time, making it ideal to hook up to Zwift and Peloton—plus it plays nice with an Apple Watch. It also works with Wahoo’s own phone app to track cycling cadence, with additional advanced metrics when you swap biking for your running shoes.
